Okay.
Evidence of meeting #13 for Declaration of Emergency in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A video is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #13 for Declaration of Emergency in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A video is available from Parliament.
7:45 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
At this time, given the ongoing rounds, we're going to take a five-minute recess for refreshment. When we come back, just to let folks know, we're going to reset, so there will be a five-minute round followed by a four-minute/three-minute split like we have just done.
We'll be back in five minutes.
7:45 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
I'll call this meeting back to order.
We will get into our five-minute rounds. We will begin the five-minute round with Mr. Motz.
Mr. Motz, you have five minutes, and the floor is yours.
7:55 p.m.
Conservative
Glen Motz Conservative Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB
Thank you very much, Chair.
Mr. McDonell and Mr. Brookson, I'd like to get each of your perspectives.
With your background and policing experience, and the co-operation required to deal with the incident that occurred in January and February, what lessons are to be learned from the policing response during this convoy, from your perspective, because it impacts us here? From your perspective, what lessons should we be looking at?
7:55 p.m.
Sergeant-at-Arms and Corporate Security Officer, House of Commons
As a former police officer now in charge of protective operations, and as an assistant commissioner at one point, I would say listen to your intelligence and listen to your experts. For your posture, set it up days out and set it up right.
7:55 p.m.
Acting Director, Parliamentary Protective Service
Through you, Mr. Chair, I echo the comments of Mr. McDonell.
With respect to the Ottawa Police Service, we can sense the change in terms of how the Panda Game, for instance, is going to be addressed. You go back one year to what the choice was back then, and it wasn't good.
I'm very pleased and happy with the changes that seem to be occurring at the Ottawa Police Service. I'm looking at that as extremely positive moving forward.
7:55 p.m.
Conservative
Glen Motz Conservative Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB
Thank you for that.
Chair, I want to try to share some time with Mr. Brock, because I know we probably won't get to the second round of this.
Mr. Brookson, you provided testimony here that in the weeks before the convoy arrived, the PPS asked for Wellington Street to be frozen and to not have vehicle access. This tells me that there had to be contact between the convoy organizers and the City of Ottawa and/or the Ottawa Police Service.
Would that be your assessment as well? Did the convoy end up on Wellington because of the permissions given by the city and by the Ottawa Police Service? Would that be a fair assessment?
7:55 p.m.
Acting Director, Parliamentary Protective Service
That would be a fair assessment, I'm sure.
7:55 p.m.
Conservative
Glen Motz Conservative Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB
Okay.
With your experience, both of you know that in many of the protests that occur, whether here on Parliament Hill, in other parts of the country or even around the globe, there will be those who have extremist views and have nothing to do with the protest, but attach themselves to it and try to either fly under the radar of that protest protection or propagate their own agendas, separate from that of the protest. We saw that at Coutts. The people involved with the firearms at Coutts had nothing to do with the protest.
Would that be a fair assessment, from both of your experiences with this particular situation, as well as in other circumstances?
7:55 p.m.
Acting Director, Parliamentary Protective Service
Through you, Mr. Chair, that would be correct.
7:55 p.m.
Conservative
7:55 p.m.
Sergeant-at-Arms and Corporate Security Officer, House of Commons
I don't have first-hand information on who was in the crowd, although I will agree it's common that radical groups will attach themselves to lawful protests. In this particular instance, I have no first-hand knowledge.
7:55 p.m.
Conservative
Glen Motz Conservative Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB
Okay. Thank you.
I'll turn it over to Mr. Brock.
7:55 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Brock Conservative Brantford—Brant, ON
Thank you.
Gentlemen, you previously responded to a few of my colleagues—particularly you, Mr. Brookson—about your heightened concerns regarding the unknown in the vehicles and in the trucks. You indicated that this heightened concern was rather high, without putting an actual number on it. That continued largely throughout the entire protest, until it was disbanded.
Can you share with me whether or not you received any intelligence reports from any police service or CSIS that either confirmed your suspicions or simply dispelled them?
8 p.m.
Acting Director, Parliamentary Protective Service
I did not receive any direct information to suggest otherwise.
8 p.m.
Conservative
Larry Brock Conservative Brantford—Brant, ON
Okay.
I know that you specifically testified—because you testified about this in June—that you wrote or spoke to the RCMP and requested that CBRNE sensing be conducted within days of the arrival of these truckers, and the RCMP did not comply with that request. What was the reason for that?
8 p.m.
Acting Director, Parliamentary Protective Service
It was security concerns for the individuals. We're not talking about police officers who would conduct that assessment; we're talking about civilians, and it was deemed to be unsafe.
8 p.m.
NDP
The Joint Chair NDP Matthew Green
That concludes the five minutes.
We will now move on to Mr. Virani.
Mr. Virani, you have five minutes, and the floor is yours, sir.
September 29th, 2022 / 8 p.m.
Liberal
Arif Virani Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON
Thank you very much. Again, thank you to all three of our presenters. Thank you for your service in keeping the parliamentary precinct safe. It's very important.
We've taking you back to a lot of testimony.
Mr. McDonell, I want to take you back to some testimony that you provided at the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on June 21. It dovetails with some of what you've been asked presently, where you're talking about instances of cars being banged on. I'm going to read back what you said at that time. You said:
One individual would block certain employees' cars every day. If it was a female employee, he would bang on their car before moving aside. We had one instance when, just before coming up the steps off Wellington, a female employee was accosted by a gentleman who tried to throw a bag of what appeared to be human feces on her. A male employee came to her rescue and pushed the assailant to the ground, and they left.
Do you recollect giving that testimony, Mr. McDonell.
8 p.m.
Liberal
Arif Virani Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON
Mr. McDonell, I want to ask you something that's directed at a question that I think was put directly to Mr. Brookson, and I think Ms. Lacroix answered it a bit later. It was this idea about policing, and we understand your jurisdiction ends at Wellington—at least for PPSA it ends at Wellington. It was put to your two colleagues on the panel that expanding the precinct beyond Wellington would assist in terms of keeping parliamentarians safe.
Do you agree with that type of recommendation?